Diary of my North Texas Chicken Adventure....Guidance and input welcome!

[dpenning]

From the back door of my house my 3 pen doors are 25', 40', & 55' away. The only reason they're so close is because that's where the side of the barn is I that built onto but I never smell a thing, and it's easy to carry feed & water that short distance.
I would go with under the tree where the propane tank is too because it's shady and close to the house.
I noticed your fence isn't very tall. The chickens could go right over it. When I had bulldogs they were great climbers and could get over a 6' wooden fence with a little effort and a 4' fence with no effort. They would also chew on the wire on the chain link gate till they deformed it enough to slip thru.

I know I'll have to do additional fencing, may have to trim the trees this winter to make them high enough to fence under. I anticipate having some sort of covering over the run areas.

 

[dpenning]

Invest in a lot of electric fence (solar). It will keep your dogs where they are supposed to be and keep most predators away from your chickens. You will probably also want to build some shelters here and there for your birds to run under in case a hawk tried to get them, and they probably will. I don't have any yet but friends say that electric poultry netting is great - very portable and very effective. For that number of chickens you could build a portable coop and along with the poulltry netting move them all around your place for bug control or whatever. Check out "hoop coops" also. You could build one for your birds for $200 or less.

...also the "deep litter method" will keep the odor down. My coop has 10 chickens in it with little to no odor at all. But you would have to leave the coop in one spot to do that. Feed "fermented feed" and you won't have a fly problem.

I've actually been looking into the solar electric poultry fence to put around a couple of fruit trees my neighbors goats keep trying to kill! I'll be well practiced with it by the time I actually get around to having chickens. <G>

 

[TXchickmum]

Ours was an in-stock shed from Home Depot. I found a pic on the following website that I loved:
http://www.thefancyfarmgirl.com/heres-the-coop/
We did the same coop, but finished it out differently. Also, we live in a neighborhood with limited land. -would LOVE to have acreage, but that isn't a possibility for us at this time.
As far as run construction goes, if your gals are out and about in an area where digging predators have access to them during the daytime then I would definitely bury wire around the perimeter. We only have hawks. Our run is constructed of chicken wire. Hardware cloth is used on the coop (and skirted from the bottom of the coop, buried under the ground, and covered with pavestone. -don't want anything in the coop at night. Again, good luck! You have plenty of room for many great options!

 

[Triple Willow]

Here is a $200 hoop coop that a friend of mine (Beekissed) built. The inside is probably 8X10 so should hold around 8 chickens.

 

[ChickenLegs13]

Question for anyone. I know the coop should be predator proof, does the run need to be as tight?  Meaning does the wire need to be buried  to prevent digging, etc?  I see tractors often and I'm thinking that those can't be that tight so that maybe if the coop itself is tight the run can be less so?

It needs to be as pred-proof as you can reasonably make it. I always bury my wire, walls, etc because those dang gone chickens will scratch out a huge hole next to the fence in no time.

 

[dpenning]

Ours was an in-stock shed from Home Depot. I found a pic on the following website that I loved: http://www.thefancyfarmgirl.com/heres-the-coop/ We did the same coop, but finished it out differently. Also, we live in a neighborhood with limited land. -would LOVE to have acreage, but that isn't a possibility for us at this time. As far as run construction goes, if your gals are out and about in an area where digging predators have access to them during the daytime then I would definitely bury wire around the perimeter. We only have hawks. Our run is constructed of chicken wire. Hardware cloth is used on the coop (and skirted from the bottom of the coop, buried under the ground, and covered with pavestone. -don't want anything in the coop at night. Again, good luck! You have plenty of room for many great options!

Your coop is beautiful! What size is it and did it come with all the windows or did you add those?

 

[dpenning]

Pretty cool! I could see making a cow panel tractor like that to move around the property.

 

[dpenning]

Thanks Chickenlegs! I guess since I have the luxury of time I may as well do it right.

 

[TXchickmum]

Our coop is 8 x 12. (We have 7 standard and 3 bantam chickens.) -constructed divided sections between the two on the interior. -cut out the chicken doors on the bottom sides and made frames so they slide open and shut. -hubby used the workbench section, which comes standard, in the back of the shed for roosts and nest boxes. He built the nest boxes and attached them to the workbench top. -added roosts to the front. We added the windows. -bought them off of Craigslist for $15. The top row of shelves that flank the interior come standard with this coop. Also, the front transom window panel comes standard. There is a loft for the back that comes standard, but we didn't use it. -sturdy shed that is easily customized.

 

[ellie32526]

LOL! That is much more reasonable.

I think I have decided my spot. In the second picture with the propane tank, that fence is between the dog yard and the front yard. If I put the coop against that fence I can have he best of both worlds. I can put a run on either side of the fence or even just a pop door so they can free range on one side or the other. It is kinda close to the trailer now but when we build a house for full time living it will be far enough away.

If I had mine to do over I would put the house in the middle, add a pop door on each side and put a yard for the chickens on each side. That way I could alternate which yard I put them in by closing one or the other pop door and plant a garden in the other side. Then at the end of summer, the hens get to have a free for all in the remains of the garden and I get fertile ground to plant in the next spring.